Binding or mounting clips



May 11, 1965 E. F. EMERY ETAL BINDING OR MOUNTING CLIPS Filed Aug. 23,1962 United States Patent 3,182,940 BINDING 0R MOUNTING CLIPS Edgar F.Emery, Prestbury, England, and Frank Down Emery, deceased, late ofCheadle Hulme, England, by Robert Chester Haworth, Manchester, MarjorieA. Fawkes, Davenport, and Edgar F. Emery, personal representatives,Prestbury, England, assignors to Insuloid Manufacturing Co. Limited, acompany of Great Britain, Northern Ireland and Isle of Man Filed Aug.23, 1962, Ser. No. 219,347 2 Claims. (Cl. 248--74) port or for securingthem to a supporting base or bracket.

There have been several forms of mounting clips in comrnon use, thesimplest and most popular consisting merely of a strip of insulatingmaterial, such as pollyvinyl chloride, formed with holes in its ends,adapted to embrace the bundle of wires and to be secured to a base by ascrew or to a frame or chassis by fitting the holes in the ends of thestrip over a frame stud extension and securing by nut and washer.Intermediate of such mounting clips any grouping or bundling of thewiring is effected by binding, which though eifective and neat, is arelatively slow operation even when done by a skilled operative.

Accordingly, it is among the objects of the present invention to providean improved clip which is simple in construction, which is cheap toproduce, which may quickly be applied, and which is both neat andeifective.

It is also among the objects of the invention to provide a combinationof an elastic member and a relatively stiff member which is adapted tohold a bundle of wires, for example, securely while preventing shiftingof individual wires.

It is further among the objects of the invention to provide an elasticmember which has a central supporting portion and readily extensible endportions to permit ready application without undue stresses being set upin the elements thereof.

It is still further among the objects of the invention to provide meanswhereby the bundle may be readily attached to a support and be adaptedfor easy removal from said support.

According to the invention, a binding or mounting means for a bundle ofarticles comprises an elongated ring-like member of resilientlyextensible or elastic material and hook-ended connecting means adaptedto be engaged by the ring so that the said ring and connecting meansocollectively embrace the articles. The binding and mounting meansaforesaid is further characterized in that there is a transverserelatively wide Web-like mem ber connecting the sides of the ringintermediate of its ends, thereby to securely hold the bundle together.

In its preferred form the ring is rectangular in outline and the centralweb has an area about equal to that of the hook member and, when mountedon a bundle of wires, the web is opposite the hook'member. The ends ofthe ring are relatively thin and of a diameter. about equal to thethickness of the web, and said ends are readily stretchable.

The invention will be described further with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which like reference characters indicate likeparts, and in which- FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one preferredform of binding or mounting means in position on a bundle of wires;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a modified form of binding ormounting clip, showing how it can be inserted into a saddle, and

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the elastic member shown in flatcondition and separated from the U-shaped strip.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the example of the invention illustrated showsa binding or mounting clip 4 suitable for use in the building ofelectronic apparatus and this comprises connecting means consistingof astrip 10 of stiff plastic or other suitable substance, aboutthree-quarters of an inch square having two opposite edges rolledoutwardly to form open hook ends 11 and 12, the diameter of each rollbeing about three thirty-seconds of an inch. One hook end 12 is open forits full diameter but the other hook end 11 may be rolled over a littlefurther to close the entrance to about three SiXtY-mfOlJIths of an inch.Complementary to such connecting means is an endless extensible moldedring 13 preferably of polyvinyl chloride having a cross-sectionaldiameter of about onesix-teenth of an inch. The ring consists of acentral flat web 14, of rectangular shape, having approximately equalsized loops 15 and 16 at opposite ends thereof forming openings 17 and18, respectively. The web is relatively wide to provide a substantialarea of contact with the bundle of articles. The area A of web 14 isabout equal to or somewhat less than area A of clip 4, and width B issufficient to permit ends 15" and 16" to readily fit over hooks 1'1 and12. The distance C is slightly less than distance D but may be aboutequal thereto, so that the area of web 14 is not over the area of loops17 and 18.

Sets of such clips may be made up in groups with rings of varying sizesand lengths from which they may be selected according to the size of theparticular bundle to be bound thereby.

In use, one loop 15 is engaged with hook 12 of cradle 10. The operatorengages a finger or fingers with the bridge to stretch the loop until itis possible to engage the other loop 16 with the other hook 11 of thecradle norm-ally without having to stretch loop 16 or overstretch loop15. Upon release, the tensioned parts resile and both loops becomestressed, with or without a little assistance by manipulative pressureon the bridge. This operation, done by a skilled operative, can beeffected quickly and the resultant binding is effective and relativelypermanent, as it would be necessary to have a suitably designed removingtool to disengage the ring 13 from the hook 1 2.

The first loop 15 will be initially stressed at 15 beyond that part 15under the hook, lbEGEtllSOf frictional resistance at the ends of thehook. Equally, when allowed to resile, friction at the same ends willdelay release of tension in the part under the book. The stresses atsides 16 of loop 16 will ultimately be substantially the same as at thesides 15' of loop 15 and approximately the same as in the part 15" ofloop 15 under hook 12. The part 16" of loop 16 under hook 11 will beslightly less be cause of the friction at the ends of book 11 unlessmanually adjusted by pushing the bridge or web back towards hook 12.

Normally, therefore, the tensional stres is mainly distributed over thewhole of loop 15 and the sides 16 of loop 16, which is about of thestretchable part of the band, and it will be substantially the same atone side as at the other.

Means are provided for mounting the clip on a suitable support. Itconsists of a boss 25 at the base of the U,

and preferably formed integrally therewith. 'It has, a threaded opening26 which is adapted to be threaded on 1.3 the free threaded end of abolt or screw fixed onto the support.

Referring now to FIG. 2, this figure illustrates how the clip shown inFIG. 1 can be mounted securely, but releasably, for example upon a baseboard. Complementary to the connecting means is a channel-sectionedsaddle 20, the flanges 21, 22 of the channel of the saddle convergingslightly. This saddle has a spacer or distance piece 23 moldedintegrally therewith, which distance piece is bored for the reception ofa fixing bolt 24, whereby the saddle may be secured, for example, upon abase board (not shown).

Once the saddle 20 has been secured by its bolt, the binding clip orcradle strip 10 can he slid into engagement therewith, to be held firmlyby the converging flanges 21, 22.

In practice, it is found that bundles of wires, for example, inelectronic equipment, frequently require to be unbound, and the mountingclips according to the present invention provide a very simple means fordoing this. The operator engages a finger under one of the loops andpulls it towards one hook until the loop falls therefrom and is easilylifted clear.

With an ordinary band having no bridge, it would be almost inevitablethat one side will be stretched more than the other and also the endportion placed over the last hook will be and will remain over-stretchedby the manipulation of applying the band. This distribution of residualstress is very important to the life of the band as the rate ofdegradation is known to be a function of the residual stress and risesrapidly therewith.

What is claimed is:

1. A binding clip for holding a bundle of elongated articles togethercomprising a substantially rectangular strip of stiff material ofsubstantial width, the ends of said strip being rolled to provide a pairof hooks, said hooks being substantially parallel tosaid articles, anelastic ring of elongated substantially rectangular form, a transverserectangular -web across the central area of said ring, the end portionsof said ring being rectangular loops of approximately equal size, thearea of said web being approximately equal to the area of the openingsin said loops, the width of said loops being sufiicient so that the endsof said loops fit over said hooks, the ends of said strip being rolledinwardly so that the open ends of said hooks face each other, and achannel-shaped saddle having depending lateral flanges fits over saidhooks, the width of said saddle being equal to the width of said strip,whereby said flanges grip the sides of said strip.

2. A binding clip according to claim 1 characterized in that said saddlehas a substantially flat body and said depending flanges at the sidesthereof converging inwardly to grip the sides of said hooks.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CLAUDE A. LE ROY,Primary Examiner.

1. A BINDING CLIP FOR HOLDING A BUNDLE OF ELONGATED ARTICLES TOGETHERCOMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR STRIP OF STIFF MATERIAL OFSUBSTANTIAL WIDTH, THE ENDS OF SAID STRIP BEING ROLLED TO PROVIDE A PAIROF HOOKS, SAID HOOKS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID ARTICLES, ANELASTIC RING OF ELONGATED SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR FORM, A TRANSVERSERECTANGULAR WEB ACROSS THE CENTRAL AREA OF SAID RING, THE END PORTIONSOF SAID RING BEING RECTANGULAR LOOPS OF APPROXIMATELY EQUAL SIZE, THEAREA OF SAID WEB BEING APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE AREA OF THE OPENINGSIN SAID LOOPS, THE WIDTH OF SAID LOOPS BEING SUFFICIENT SO THAT THE ENDSOF SAID LOOPS FIT OVER SAID HOOKS, THE ENDS OF SAID STRIP BEING ROLLEDINWARDLY SO THAT THE OPEN ENDS OF SAID HOOKS FACE EACH OTHER, AND ACHANNEL-SHAPED SADDLE HAVING DEPENDING LATERAL FLANGES FITS OVER SAIDHOOKS, THE WIDTH OF SAID SADDLE BEING EQUAL TO THE WIDTH OF SAID STRIP,WHEREBY SAID FLANGES GRIP THE SIDES OF SAID STRIP.